True Blood’s Universal Appeal
March 14, 2010
As Season 3 of True Blood approaches, the show’s success seems boundless, and its appeal limitless. Once little known (although well-seasoned) actors and producers – such as Sam Trammell, Stephen Moyer, Alexander Skarsgaard, and Alan Ball – are now household names. The series single-handedly revived Anna Paquin’s career for a whole new generation of viewers that might not remember her Oscar-winning performance in The Piano. For author Charlaine Harris, the series has peaked interest and sales in her best-selling Sookie Stackhouse novels on which the show is based. The series has also spawned popular merchandise, including t-shirts, jewelry, posters, and even a drink, Tru Blood (Really, what other TV show has its own drink?). While fans contemplate what Sookie and friends will encounter in Season 3, DarkWaveDoom.com considers the secret to the show’s appeal.
The site (rightfully) claims that the show’s greatest draw is its reach across genres – from drama to thriller and mystery as well as romance and a bit of comedy. Fans of 19th century Goth and fantasy will enjoy the vampire and supernatural themes and the gloomy and mysterious settings (including Gothic homes). Fans who are after quick wit and the tawdry will revel in Lafayette’s snappy comebacks and the interplay between levels of authority (the town Sheriff and detective and the higher, mid-level, and newly-turned vampires). Fans of romance will find plenty of relationships to be entertained by – especially Vampire Bill’s sweet and chivalrous, though dated, “courting” of heroine, Sookie. For those who are attracted to gore and horror, the show provides plenty of bites and fights to please.
DarkWaveDoom.com also recounts the underlying themes of the show which give it uniqueness but also the depth necessary for a “huge…TV hit”. The series is set in small town, Bon Temps, Louisiana where heroine, Sookie Stackhouse, makes her living waiting tables at Merlotte’s Bar and Grille. Vampires have recently acknowledged their existence and, simultaneously, minimized their threat since the Japanese invented synthetic blood, and they no longer have to prey on humans to “live”. While trying to find their way in the world and also acquire civil rights, the vampires that once remained secretive are now exposed. Vampire Queens and Kings rule vampire states, and Sheriffs ascertain authority over their own areas within them. The vampire organization retains its own system of laws and punishment, and, like any society, is divided among those wanting to assimilate in the modern world and those wishing to retain their more radical and antiquated ways (such as drinking human blood).
Bill Compton, Sookie’s suitor and next door neighbor, wishes to fit in but finds himself continually at odds with the Area Sheriff and other vampires. While vampires struggle to find their identities, humans grapple with understanding the “undead” and the knowledge that other supernatural beings may exist. Although set in a fictitious world of otherworldly beings, the situations and problems the characters encounter are very real – the drug underworld with vampires and humans dealing “V”, or vampire blood; the challenges inherent in an inter-supernatural relationship; murder; blackmail; and death.
DarkWaveDoom.com also credits the writers and actors that bring the stories to life and allow the fans to buy into this unreality.
Season 3 of True Blood will begin airing in June 2010. In a sea of mundane writing and rehashed ideas, True Blood stands out as the show to watch for inventive storylines, astute dialogue, and emerging talent. Gaining momentum from Season 1, Season 2 brought back viewers to HBO, garnering as many as the finale of the hit series, The Sopranos. With a Season 4 confirmed, fans can look forward to a riveting continuation of life among the supernatural.
SOURCE: DarkWaveDoom.com
(Photo Credit: HBO Inc.)
VIDEO: Stephen Moyer Mentions Caroline Compton
March 9, 2010
Here is another video clip with Stephen Moyer with MTV.com at Cosmopolitan Magazine’s Fun Fearless Males Event in New York City. This time Stephen discusses the storyline that is to occur in season 3 of True Blood involving his character, Bill Compton and his pre-Civil war human wife, Caroline Compton. He didn’t want it give too much away but what he did have to say just builds on the anticipation for season 3’s return in June!
“She is lovely, and we do see her in a flashback to Bill’s days,” Stephen told MTV News. “I don’t want to give too much, but she is back in Louisiana at a time when he is in the Civil War. So there is that scene. There’s all sorts of things and I’m not going to tell you about — any of them!”
Enjoy the video!
SOURCE: MTV.com
VIDEO: Sam Trammell Talks About Season 3 At The Spirit Awards
March 9, 2010
Everyone’s favorite True Blood shapeshifter, Sam Merlotte, was recently spotted at the 25th Annual Film Independent’s Spirit Awards. The Spirit Awards are held each year to celebrate the work of independent film makers.
Prior to the event, About.com’s Rebecca Murray managed to catch up with True Blood star, Sam Trammell, and ask him some questions about the HBO hit drama’s upcoming third season. Sam promises that the third season is going to be the best season yet.
When asked about a raunchy scene that Sam Merlotte will share will Bill Compton, Trammell replies,
“The cat is out of the bag, I mean I can’t say anything more than that…people want to be surprised…but there is something people will be talking about, for sure.”
Also please visit Rebecca’s blog to read her latest reports from the entertainment world.
SOURCE: Rebecca Murray, About.com
(Photo credit: HBO Inc., screencap by James)
Stephen Moyer’s Sunlight Issues
March 9, 2010
Stephen Moyer loves his job portraying Bill Compton on True Blood. However, he never expected it to rule parts of his regular life.
After Stephen was hired to the HBO hit show, he moved to Southern California, completely excited about his new job and living in a part of California known for being perpetually sunny. He was especially looking forward to getting to go to the beach (lucky him) and sunbathing. Not so fast, Stephen! True Blood producers changed Stephen’s plans very quickly. As Stephen said,
“I couldn’t wait to live by the beach and enjoy the weather, then they dye my hair and make me stay out of the sun. I was banned from sunbathing!”
Since Stephen is playing a vampire (and vampires by their very natures are not the type to tan), this makes a lot of sense, and Stephen has played up his paleness a bit too. Thanks to the lack of sunbathing, Stephen has claimed he’s the palest man in Hollywood, second only to Twilight star Robert Pattinson.
That doesn’t stop the enormous fanbase Stephen who adore him regardless if he is tanned or not.
“I don’t think my fans are more aggressive than Robert Pattinson’s. You don’t get much more aggressive than a virginal 14-year-old. But they grab you and think it’s OK to touch you – girls, ladies and men. They want to be bitten and want you to break their skin. I have been sent underwear. A German woman sent me pictures of her naked on a white horse!”
Even without the tan, True Blood fans adore Stephen and what he brings to True Blood and seem to express in many interesting ways.
SOURCES:
(Photo credit: HBO Inc.)
True Blood Vampires Would Win Fights
March 3, 2010
On March 1, Stephen Moyer attended Cosmopolitan Magazine’s Fun Fearless Male Awards in NYC at the Mandarin Hotel along with fellow vampires Kellan Lutz (Twilight) and Paul Wesley (The Vampire Diaries). The men were all asked who amongst them would win in a fight amongst their vampire characters if the shows were to have a brawl.
Stephen Moyer responded that he and fellow vampire Eric Northman could easily take the other vampires. He said,
“We could take both of them [Twilight and Vampire Diaries] down at the same time! We are much older than those whipper snappers [and] just me and Eric would tear the other two casts apart in a matter of seconds!”
Kellan Lutz agreed with Stephen. He said,
“I think True Blood would kick all our asses. Eric (on True Blood) would kick all our asses. He’s a bad ass on the show… Really, who knows. We all have different strengths and powers.”
Kellan continued by describing what had to be done to a Cullen vampire and what an attacker would need to have in order to defeat them.
Paul Wesley was of a different opinion. He claimed,
“I would win any fight, any vampire fight.”
However, Paul would prefer that his vampire character win a fight with his character’s brother and beat him instead of his competition in True Blood and Twilight.
At the end of the piece, there is a poll asking which vampire you think would win a showdown, and currently, True Blood is in the lead. Of course, we highly encourage you to go and vote anyways, since there’s no such thing as too big a lead when it comes to our favorite vampires!
SOURCE: HollywoodLife.com
(Photo credit: HBO Inc.)
Stephen Moyer Says Vampire Bill Wouldn’t Mind Biting Bon Temps Redheads
March 3, 2010
At Cosmopolitan Magazine’s “Fun Fearless Male Awards” in New York City on March 1st, True Blood’s Stephen Moyer was asked a loaded question by HollywoodLife.com. Besides co-star and real-life fiancee Anna Paquin (Sookie Stackhouse), who else’s blood would he like to suck, as vampire Bill Compton of course.
“I’ve always had a thing about Carrie Preston who plays Arlene. In that long red wig, she does things for me.”
Additionally, regarding the young vampire that he was forced to sire on the show, Stephen said, “My own daughter Deborah Ann Woll, Jessica, I think she’s pretty sexy!”
Hmmm. Both Arlene and Jessica are redheads. But Bill/Stephen has proposed to blonde Sookie/Anna. Interesting. Any indication of strange bitings in Season 3? We will have to wait and see.
SOURCE: hollywoodlife.com
Stephen Moyer Missing Screen Time with Anna Paquin
March 3, 2010
It looks like the scorching on-screen chemistry between Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer will be put on ice during Season 3.
The actors, who play Bill Compton and Sookie Stackhouse, have been filming apart this season, much to Stephen’s chagrin. He admitted in a People Magazine interview that he misses working with his off-screen fiancée.
“We haven’t been working together that much this year and I kind of miss that. We met during the show, we met on camera, we met doing something that we love and that’s what we do.”
Now that the couple’s real-life relationship is no longer a secret, Stephen was able to open up about the hazards of dating a co-worker, especially on a show with staying power.
“… certainly to begin with when we got together, we were really concerned because it’s ridiculous to get into a relationship when there’s a possible seven years of working together. But it’s been nothing but lovely so I hope it carries on.”
He said he also misses working with the rest of the crew, who saw the sparks flying between him and Anna first hand. The crew has “seen every move I’ve ever made on her,” he said.
Hopefully season 3 will bring us some screen time with Bill and Sookie together but at least Stephen and Anna can see each other off-screen.
As for Stephen’s recent title from Cosmo as being a Fun Fearless Male, Stephen stated that Anna wasn’t very surprised by his new title, “She knows a little bit about my past, so she wasn’t that surprised.”
Source: People.com
Photo credit: HBO Inc.
The Annual TrueBloodNet.com Truebie Awards (TATTAs)
March 1, 2010
True Blood scored a fist-full of nominations this awards season, but largely lost out (to Mad Men, curse them) apart from a People’s Choice Award for Best Television Obsession and a Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing: Short Form Dialogue and ADR in Television.
Given the dearth of awards we thought we’d come up with a few of our own for our favorite True Blood characters. We have called them The Annual TrueBloodNet.com Truebie Awards or TATTAs. We tried very hard to come up with an acronym that spelled VAMP but had to admit defeat. Perhaps one of you guys can have a go…
So here they are in no particular order…
The Award for Best Crying, Screaming and Frothy Gurgling (often simultaneously) Moment:
Sookie Stackhouse
The Award for Best Sexy Snarl:
Bill Compton
The Award for Best Arrogant Sneer (shared):
Eric Northman and Sophie-Anne LecLerq
The Award for Highest Number of WTF Moments:
Sam Merlotte
The Award for the Cutest Ever Black-Eyed Demon Couple:
Arlene Fowler and Terry Bellefleur
The Award for Best Let’s Cross That Chicken Before it Burns Moment (shared):
Andy Bellefleur and Jason Stackhouse
The Award for Best Gratuitous Washboard Ab Exposure (shared):
Jason Stackhouse and Eggs Benedict
The Award for “Being Kept in this Dungeon is Bad for My Skin” Moment:
Lafayette Reynolds
The Award for Best Maniacal Laugh While Tied to a Chair:
Tara Thornton
The Award for Best “Vampers Gave Me a Really Bad Hair Day” (shared):
Steve and Sarah Newlin
The Award for Best Clueless Sexual Innuendo Relating to Puddings:
Steve Newlin
The Award for Best 80s Killer Disco Diva Styling:
Pam Ravenscroft
The Award for Best Insane B***h Moments (shared – couldn’t separate these ones):
Lorena, Maryann Forrester, and Sophie-Ann Leclerq.
With an honorable mention to Maxine Fortenberry
The Award for How to Channel Pennywise the Clown and Still Look Hot:
Eric Northman
The Award for I Totally Like Missed That Jesus Dude Moment:
Godric
The Award for the Best “I’m 28 and Still a Virgin” Confession Moment:
Hoyt Fortenbery
The Award for Best Cackle Above and Beyond the Call of Duty:
Maxine Fortenberry
The Award for Best “My Hymen Came Back and I’m Really, REALLY, Pissed About It” Moment:
Jessica Hamby
Congrats to all the winners! Next year we hope to have voting, a trophy and everything! Hope you enjoyed the round-up!
(Photo credits: HBO Inc.)
Sophie-Anne LeClerq – Vampire Philosopher Queen
February 22, 2010
True Blood is one of the few TV shows worth repeated viewings, which is a testament to the quality of the production from conception to realization. Alan Ball may claim that True Blood is popcorn television, but there’s real meat (or is that blood) in there as well.
The True Blood Season 2 episode Frenzy, written by Alan Ball, attracted a fair amount of criticism after its first airing in the US. Critics described the episode as being too wordy; filled with exposition at the expense of action and plot development.
The scenes with the vampire Queen of Louisiana, Sophie-Anne LeClerq, were those that attracted the greatest amount of negative criticism, much of it aimed at Evan Rachel Wood whose responsibility it was to bring the wordy Queen to life.
So who is Sophie-Anne LeClerq and why is she so wordy? Does she spout philosophical wisdom or base sophistry?
Sophie-Anne is an immortal being, who in Alan Ball’s words: “very powerful, capricious, and most likely insane.” She has been a vampire for several hundred years, but was turned in her teens. She has accumulated the knowledge of several lifetimes, but interprets it all with the mind of a teenager.
We first meet Sophie-Anne in her Day House. Inside it is a luxurious confection of light, water, and desirable things (objects, humans, and vampires). Outside, dioramas of sand and sea block out the real world. It is opulent, perfect, unreal, and terribly sterile.
Queen Sophie-Anne LeClerq explains to a somewhat nonplussed Vampire Bill that everything in existence imagined itself into being. She also takes the philosophical position that there is no such thing as “good” (and by extension “evil”) or “time”. She forces her companions to play endless games of Yahtzee, which she extols as the “most egalitarian game in the world” as it is based purely on the chance roll of dice and requires no skill.
She is her own creation. She is what she imagines herself to be. The philosopher René Descartes famously posited “I think therefore I am” and Sophie-Anne appears to think she is one of Plato’s imaginary Philosopher Kings (or, in her case, Queen) and, therefore, she is.
In understanding Sophie-Anne you might remember the scene in the movie A Fish Called Wanda, where Otto (don’t call me stupid) West asserts that, that “Apes don’t read philosophy” and Wanda shouts back at him “Yes they do, Otto. They just don’t understand it.”
Now I’m not calling Sophie-Anne stupid (I wouldn’t dare), but she is a cautionary tale of knowledge without wisdom, power without limits, behavior without boundaries, life without death. She is the polar opposite of Sookie, who is wise but not learned, powerful (in her own special way) but ethical, strong but kind, and bounded by her mortality.
Source: Quote from Otto and Wanda taken from the film A Fish Called Wanda (1988) – MGM
(Photo credit: HBO Inc., screencaps by James)
Different Vampires, Same Fan Love
February 22, 2010
Most of us know that True Blood is not the first show or movie to feature vampires. After all, the concept of vampires dates back to Ancient Rome, if not earlier, and vampires can be found in all sorts of texts, as well as some earlier movies. However, some vampires affect us more than others, and as we’ve seen, True Blood has several great vampires, like Bill, Eric, Godric, and Pam, who all have strong fan followings. They’re not the only ones, though. After all, who doesn’t remember Buffy the Vampire Slayer, with Angel and Spike? Or even The Vampire Diaries and the Twilight saga? How about the vampires from Moonlight? After all, the lead vampires of Moonlight had a similar fan following to what I see here on TrueBloodNet.com, with people in love with the vampires and the world they survived in.
Actually, True Blood and Moonlight have a lot in common. That’s probably why people like myself wish we could tune into Moonlight on Friday nights, then have Sundays to enjoy True Blood. Unfortunately, that isn’t going to happen any time soon, as Moonlight was canceled after only one season, while True Blood is thankfully still on air. However, the two shows still have much in common, and if you’re really in need of some good vampires while we continue to wait for Season 3 of True Blood, renting or purchasing the season of Moonlight may help you survive the vampire addiction we all share until True Blood begins airing again in June.
Moonlight is a show that vampire fans everywhere should be able to sink their fangs into. First, like True Blood, when it first came out, there were instant comparisons to another show. Unlike True Blood, which was compared to the Twilight movies, Moonlight was considered by those who didn’t watch it to be a direct rip-off of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer show’s spin-off, Angel, simply because the lead character, Mick, was a vampire P.I., like Angel was.
Even with the charges against it, Moonlight and True Blood have a lot more in common than any of the shows or movies they’ve been compared to. Let’s begin this comparison with both shows in general terms. Both are, as I’ve stated before, shows about vampires. However, there are many different “rules” to both universes. In the Moonlight universe, vampires can go outside during daylight (unlike the True Blood universe), but need to wear sunglasses and take general precautions to protect themselves from the sun, including staying in the shade while outside. Plus, if a vampire in Moonlight is outside too long, they require a lot of blood to replenish themselves from the nourishment they have lost. Another difference between the two shows is the writing and plotlines. Moonlight focused on episode-centric arcs, with only a few season-long arcs, which is very similar to a crime drama. True Blood focuses more on season arcs, like the Maryann story arc, which was the majority of Season 2.
Another similarity between True Blood and Moonlight are their lead characters, Mick St. John and Bill Compton. Both vampires are very similar in the physical way, and often carry very similar attitudes, wishing they could be closer to their humanity again and yet reveling in their strengths as vampires, since that strength allows them both to save and protect others. Both men also have saved their heroines in the past, and also see them as great assets. (Mick has Beth Turner, a young woman whom he saved as a child from another vampire, and Bill has Sookie, of course.) It also turns out that both Mick and Bill were turned by their makers unwillingly, as Lorena forced the vampirism on Bill, and Mick’s own wife, Coraline, did the same to him, but instead of on the way home from war, it was on his wedding night.
That’s not the end of the similarities between the two, though. Both are also quite young in terms of vampire age, and both also have to work as underlings for another vampire. Bill works for the vampire Sheriff, Eric Northman, and Mick works as an underling to his mentor and friend Josef Kostan. However, the relationships between the men and their “bosses” are very different. Where Bill and Eric often squabble and seem to respect yet dislike each other, Mick and Josef are very close friends, and Mick often turns to Josef when he needs help. Both vampires also have girlfriends. Bill has Sookie, starting with the instant connection between them the first time they meet. Mick, on the other hand, has to wait a bit longer for Beth, who is dating a DA when she first meets Mick. For most of the series, Mick and Beth are playing the “I want you but I can’t have you” game, until circumstances change towards the end of the series.
The similarities between the shows don’t end there. Even the leading ladies are similar! Sookie and Beth are both beautiful women. They’re blonde, smart, and able to think on their feet. Both are also great supporters of their men, with Sookie helping Bill and Eric using her skills, and Beth helping Mick solve crimes by being an observant reporter and noticing minor details that not everyone would see.
Other similarities between the two women are not quite as pleasant. Sookie and Beth have both survived a lot. Beth was kidnapped as a child, though luckily found and saved, and Sookie lost her parents in a flash flood. Later on, when both women were adults, they both suffered even more loss via murder, Sookie from the loss of her grandmother and coworkers, Beth through the loss of her boss. However, each woman has the strength and fortitude to get back up whenever life trips them up, and that saves both of them numerous times.
Beth and Sookie are incredibly strong emotionally, and neither feels the need to be turned into a vampire. However, their human strength is nothing compared to a vampire’s strength, which is why they both also get protection of sorts from the friends and allies of their boyfriends, namely Josef and Eric.
Josef and Eric can both be very suave, and they’ve both experienced centuries of history. Eric was a Viking, and Josef was alive to see the French Revolution take place. In many ways, both men are old-fashioned, believing that some of the traditions of their lengthy pasts over current practices, like drinking blood. Eric and Josef are both purists, preferring a direct source for blood, unlike Mick and Bill, both of whom practice modern alternatives (Bill drinks TruBlood, and Mick drinks bags of donor blood).
There are also days where a fan watching either show can alternatively love and hate Josef and Eric. Sometimes, you’re just irritated by how they act, but other days, you see the “mask” each of them wears. An example of this was in Season 2 of True Blood, when viewers were shown Eric’s deep and abiding love for his maker Godric, then his grief at losing the man who had been there for him for a century. In Moonlight, the example of Josef’s “mask” being off was an episode where we were introduced to Josef’s girlfriend, whom he tried to turn. Unfortunately, Josef’s attempts only brought over an immortally comatose woman. Moments like the ones above, as well as flashbacks for all the characters on both shows, help us see past the “masks” as to what they are: a singular prism through which to see mere facets of the characters.
Both Moonlight and True Blood are strong shows that are easy for the average viewer to feel emotionally connected to. They remind us that even if someone is a vampire (or anything else for that matter), there are still challenges to face in daily life, and sometimes even though immortality is a good thing, there’s more to life than just drudging through it. Besides, nothing is ever what it really seems to be on either show. There’s always something new brewing on the horizon for the characters to deal with.
(Photo credit: IMDb.com)
